Got a friend here who's become obsessed with building a road-race (daily driver) classic Vette. He was originally looking at doing a 70-71 E-body for this, but has since turned onto Vettes for the idea simply because they're smaller, sleeker, 2-seaters, and probably all around better for the job. No one's gonna debate a 63-72 Vette is every bit as cool as an E-body. Well... not too many people...

He's looking at any C2 Vette (63-67) or 68-72 (steel bumper) C3 Vettes. I've always liked these years too, but gotta admit i know nothing about them. Figured i'd ask here as some here must know them pretty well.

Did these cars handle well? compared to say, the top-tier pony cars? T/A/AAR E-bodies, Camaro SS/Z28, Boss Mustangs? etc. Can they be made to handle well like our Mopars can with the usual mods? Would it take more? less?

What sort ov things does a buyer look for in an old Corvette?

He's not restoring a car or making it beautiful... just fast and reliable.

Its been a while, but i cannot believe how expensive the C2's, ANY C2 has gotten. They've flown right out the window... insane. And then you have the C3's... even the cool early ones, like 68-9... dirt cheap. Hell, dirt cheap compared to E-bodies! I'm finding running driving 68-70 Vettes, decent ones, for well under 20K, a few for well under 15K. You cant even find a running rallye Challenger (that isn't junk) for that.

Am i missing something here? I would have thought a 427 Vette would be as big a money car in our world as anything. I might start looking at them myself, but i have a neat lil AMX still waiting patiently to come home...

I can reply at least on the C3: don't assume there is no rust. These cars rust in the windshield header, cowl, and the frame. Overall they are pretty basic, body on frame, and not too hard to work on. An OE resto on a C3 can get real spendy (been there) but as for building a car to thrash I think it would be a blast. I've considered building one as a thrasher, everything on a C3 is heavy: hidden headlights, trim, even the radio weighs a ton. Would be easy to lighten up on of these things.

Lancer above pretty much covered it. The cheaper '68-'72's you are seeing most likely have rust issues. Repairing the birdcage can get expensive.C2/C3's handle pretty well as is and there are aftermarket suspension upgrades that take it up to the next level. Nice C2's/'68-'72 are pricey and your friend might look at a '73 up to modify. They are cheaper but share the same basic layout.Have him spend some time on https://www.corvetteforum.com/ and he will find many C2/C3's that have been modified like he wants to do. I have a '72 vette and a '70 e-body and love them both.

Stripped to bare glass. I had known this car for decades, it was almost always garaged and yet the windshield frame was so rotted I had to cut it off and replace it.

I don't envy doing that job. I "think" mine is OK, afraid to look, LOL.Looks like you have a '69-'72?Watch that center cluster bezel. They break easily at that thin point.Here's my '72. I sold my '71 cuda to my brother to buy it back in '74.

FM3AAR - your blue coupe is a knockout, very cool.My car is a '72, red/ red/red hardtop, auto, air, whitewalls and luggage rack. It had add-on power windows & Rally mirrors, which I put back to stock. I will never, ever attempt a dead-stock resto again on any car. Surprised we haven't gotten any crap (yet) for all this Corvette love on Moparts

The C3's have become very popular in the last few years on the Pro-Touring/Autocross scene. Just look at some of the Otima Ultimate Street Car events. I believe Detroit Speed, Maier Racing, and others have some serious handling bits available for them. Maier Racings stuff is fast and track proven.

Can't help with answers other than the rust in the windshield frame. but it sounds like a cool project. I like the 63 Grand Sport kit cars from Mongoose. Use modern vette running gear with a classic wrapper.

Surprised we haven't gotten any crap (yet) for all this Corvette love on Moparts

Yeah, me too!

Buddy's looking at a C2, or a 69-69 C3, ideally. He's going from the 'money' E-bodies to vettes, so he's not going to settle for anything but the best. He's the kind ov guy that will want a 71 Cuda, and will walk before he drives a 72. The 73's and up look different, and i'd imagine are heavier yet. I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say he's probably not getting into a 63-67... i cant believe how expensive these have gotten in the past decade or so. He's also going small block, whether its a 427 car or not. I'd imagine he'll go LS and certainly 6-speed.

Are they heavy? How about room for wide tires? The answers seem obvious, but you never know.

I have zero experience with these. I dont even know anyone that owns one. I rode in a POS 77 L82 (think those were rated around 80HP? haha) smog boat once, chugging like a farmtruck, and that still felt like a race car. I aspire to make an E-body feel like that someday. Or maybe my AMX...

The more i think about this the more i like the old idea i had ov a 63 split-window version ov the 'King of the Mountain' vette... Anyone remember that car?

Love the blue Pickett car: kept the character of the car even with wider fenders, perfect stance, and dead-serious wheel/tire combo.As for finding a suitable car, I'd look at the ads in Grassroots Motorsports, and Hemmings too. Nice to have the hard work already done & sorted. Might even find something with a history that will be a good investment.

If you beat on them like a Mopar be prepared to do a lot of work on them to keep them going. I had a 1 year old 79 and drove it like I drove my Mopars back then. They don't stand up. Rearends are weak, u-joints pound out of them, the factory clutches were weak, Transmissions don't stand up to power shifting etc. They have good brakes (calipers used to be a problem, not sure now) and handle well although a bit fidgety compared to solid axle car. Bodies are cheap and rattle a lot.the late 70's seem to go cheap and the next iteration (80's) go for dirt cheap as well, those 80's ones might be good to pickup and modify the heck out of?

Back in the day the hot small block was the 70 LT1 350, by far. Now the choices are endless, but the time tested 383 (400 crank in a 350 block) is usually a great performer.

Actually, if i was going to build a non-LS SBC, i'd go the opposite way... 400 block and 350 crank. 377. WAY better. I wouldn't though. LS is the obvious choice here. There is literally nothing i like about the old small block Chevy.

If you beat on them like a Mopar be prepared to do a lot of work on them to keep them going. I had a 1 year old 79 and drove it like I drove my Mopars back then. They don't stand up. Rearends are weak, u-joints pound out of them, the factory clutches were weak, Transmissions don't stand up to power shifting etc. They have good brakes (calipers used to be a problem, not sure now) and handle well although a bit fidgety compared to solid axle car. Bodies are cheap and rattle a lot.the late 70's seem to go cheap and the next iteration (80's) go for dirt cheap as well, those 80's ones might be good to pickup and modify the heck out of?

They're cheap for the same reason Diplomats and Cordobas are cheap... big, ugly, slow and heavy... and nobody wants 'em. Wonder if an older 427 car would be built much better? I'd assume there'd be some weak factory links to bring up to snuff before you could beat on them... just like our cars.

I've always read that the first year C3, the 68 was particularly prone to the first-year gremlins. Heard they were awful. Maybe thats why i only see 69's for sale.

Oh yeah - I remember this car & "King of the Mountain" movie - Dennis Hopper was the Corvette driver: "Time is speed - speed is time..." That one is worth a re-watch.For those that commented on my '72 'Vette 'Vert, thank you. It was a ton of work and probably the last show poodle that I will build. I really didn't enjoy the hard-core Corvette crowd as they tried to find any flaw or non-oe pieces. I mean, they were just looking for something wrong so they could sound smart by pointing it out. I had way more fun building and driving my 440-powered '56 Dodge.

Originally Posted By Pale_Roader

Originally Posted By 56_Royal_Lancer

Surprised we haven't gotten any crap (yet) for all this Corvette love on Moparts

Yeah, me too!

Buddy's looking at a C2, or a 69-69 C3, ideally. He's going from the 'money' E-bodies to vettes, so he's not going to settle for anything but the best. He's the kind ov guy that will want a 71 Cuda, and will walk before he drives a 72. The 73's and up look different, and i'd imagine are heavier yet. I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say he's probably not getting into a 63-67... i cant believe how expensive these have gotten in the past decade or so. He's also going small block, whether its a 427 car or not. I'd imagine he'll go LS and certainly 6-speed.

Are they heavy? How about room for wide tires? The answers seem obvious, but you never know.

I have zero experience with these. I dont even know anyone that owns one. I rode in a POS 77 L82 (think those were rated around 80HP? haha) smog boat once, chugging like a farmtruck, and that still felt like a race car. I aspire to make an E-body feel like that someday. Or maybe my AMX...

The more i think about this the more i like the old idea i had ov a 63 split-window version ov the 'King of the Mountain' vette... Anyone remember that car?

The C3's are a great platform to work with, I miss having one around and have considered a Chrome Bumper car too. I currently have a C5 Daily Driver, excellent car and they are pretty easy to build and cheap to buy in most cases, tons of mods available. As mentioned above, the C2 and C3 are prone to rust at the Windshield frame, on the C3 check the rear end U-Joints etc, but if you are building a road racer type of vehicle they would likely be upgraded anyway. The factory brakes are fine, some caliper issues on the originals. Aftermarket for performance upgrades, brake/suspension upgrades etc. are plentiful and relatively cheap compared to the MoPar world. Fun Cars, I would avoid the C4, especially the 80's version, ugly and poor quality, the 92-96 are nice cars with good performance but getting in and out of them is not the best due to the wide seal plate area.

Stripped to bare glass. I had known this car for decades, it was almost always garaged and yet the windshield frame was so rotted I had to cut it off and replace it.

I don't envy doing that job. I "think" mine is OK, afraid to look, LOL.Looks like you have a '69-'72?Watch that center cluster bezel. They break easily at that thin point.Here's my '72. I sold my '71 cuda to my brother to buy it back in '74.

I’ve been involved with these cars for years and most are money pits. People are surprised to find how rusted out the frames are as well as the suspension. A late C 4 is a much better car and probably cheaper in the long run. And the vacuum and electrical problems on a C3 will wear you out.

You would put an LS in a 69-70 C3 but complain about later 70's as being slow? They certainly were, put the damn LS in those!----not the vintage desireable muscle car era cars.

We're just not SBC fans, and the BBC is too big and heavy. Personally, if it were my build, i'd put an LS6 (the new LS version, not big block) in a C2 coupe. That'd be my dream build. Better yet? (WAAAY better yet...) Find me an LT5...

The mid-70's and up C3's are just gross, in every way. Never liked 'em... even as a kid. Besides, the point is a CLASSIC car, as in MOST desirable. He was telling me today it'd be C2 all the way, but after pricing out a couple dozen, it seems he's out. Even the absolute junk is pulling 20K+... Now he's talking 68-9 only, unless some absurd deal on an earlier one comes up.

The more research i do on this tangent, the more i remember just how badly i used to lust after a C2 coupe...

Oh yeah - I remember this car & "King of the Mountain" movie - Dennis Hopper was the Corvette driver: "Time is speed - speed is time..." That one is worth a re-watch.For those that commented on my '72 'Vette 'Vert, thank you. It was a ton of work and probably the last show poodle that I will build. I really didn't enjoy the hard-core Corvette crowd as they tried to find any flaw or non-oe pieces. I mean, they were just looking for something wrong so they could sound smart by pointing it out. I had way more fun building and driving my 440-powered '56 Dodge.

I've heard that about Corvette guys, and even the other Corvette guys complain about Corvette guys. I didn't think the Mopar guys could be beat in that dept. That whole attitude turned me right off dealing with any sort ov car guy for quite a while, save my greaser buddies obviously.

The C3's are a great platform to work with, I miss having one around and have considered a Chrome Bumper car too. I currently have a C5 Daily Driver, excellent car and they are pretty easy to build and cheap to buy in most cases, tons of mods available. As mentioned above, the C2 and C3 are prone to rust at the Windshield frame, on the C3 check the rear end U-Joints etc, but if you are building a road racer type of vehicle they would likely be upgraded anyway. The factory brakes are fine, some caliper issues on the originals. Aftermarket for performance upgrades, brake/suspension upgrades etc. are plentiful and relatively cheap compared to the MoPar world. Fun Cars, I would avoid the C4, especially the 80's version, ugly and poor quality, the 92-96 are nice cars with good performance but getting in and out of them is not the best due to the wide seal plate area.

Interesting. I'm personally looking at buying a C5 Z06 for a daily driver, hopefully later this year. Absolutely sold on those cars now, but it wont be my hotrod. I always liked the C4 ZR-1... and was considering that instead, but the C5 just seems like (engine aside) a MUCH better car. I like the looks ov the 91-up C4's better, but i dont like the cheap looking 80's interiors. Apparently the C5's are WAAAAY simpler cars too.

Vettes are CHEAP compared to Mopars? Chevy, sure, but i figured the Corvette would be the exception. Very interesting.

Lol Not even close. They would hate this car everything is powder coated even the springs and half shafts. Stainless polished like chrome. Straight body,perfect paint. In other words a car they never made. It's my car and I could care less about the vette experts think.

Lol Not even close. They would hate this car everything is powder coated even the springs and half shafts. Stainless polished like chrome. Straight body,perfect paint. In other words a car they never made. It's my car and I could care less about the vette experts think.

Mike

Well it's a great looking car. Knockoffs, gold stripe tires, is that color Goldwood yellow?

My god... if i wanted one ov those i could buy three ov them for 4K. They're worthless. Even the stick cars pull less than that... even here in British 'Corvettes at triple Blue-book value' Columbia....

They are definitely my favorite year of all of them except this latest one. If you have the means I say go for it! You only go around once and it would be rare to lose money on it if you decided you didn't want to be there. Buddy has a '69 Z28 in that "Sunfire" yellow.

If your buddy thinks E bodys cost a lot just wait till he starts to fix up the bargin vett he thinks he found then bought. as said the frames rot the suspension parts rot the brakes will be totally shot unless someone shot their nut on all new brakes then realized the frame of the car was rotted in two...don't ask me how I know (no it was not me). then you need to pull the body off the frame and eather rebuild yours or get one that has been re built and hope it was done on a good jig and is strait. the rear suspention has about a million parts... all will be worn out or NG...If you don't know how to repair this stuff its a steep learning curve or you need to find some one who does. Not telling you not to do it but don't ever think its cheeper than an E body. its not

The Guy that lives behind me has an Early 70's (egg crate gills) sitting under a car port for about 12 years now.....very sad.

Love the 63-67 and the 68-69, as far as handling I guess they were okay, but not really even that good for their day, compared to say an old BMW 2002 the vette was not even in the same leauge back then; It's sad to think today a typical new Accord or Camry could outlap a stock one on a road course. The IRS transverse leaf set up can be modernized with Fiberglass leaf springs and with modern rubber and light wheels would probably help things out a bunch. The frame (assuming you found a good one) is kinda flexy at the limit but I'm sure there are 50+ years of suspension tuning tricks to discover if you ask the right people.

As for a motor, I think I'd go old school SB 327 (3.25 stroke) with 6" rods in a Dart 4.125 bore Block (for 347 inches) but with some brodix heads, EFI and a small Bullet Street solid roller like the Ultradyne .4033 grind for a 7200+ redline, then couple that to a close ratio Tremec with an aluminum flywheel and 3.73-ish gears....then go have a blast.

My daily driver is a 2012 Vette. It replaced my 01 z06 which my neighbor now owns. It’s up to 320 k miles now. Mine is at 65 k miles. I have always steered clear of the older Vettes for fear of frame and birdcage rot. A lot of perfumed pigs out there.

They are definitely my favorite year of all of them except this latest one. If you have the means I say go for it! You only go around once and it would be rare to lose money on it if you decided you didn't want to be there. Buddy has a '69 Z28 in that "Sunfire" yellow.

Sunfire is a totally different color than Glodwood. Never used on any other car than 65 vette. The sunfire is bright yellow and goldwood is closer to beige. Sunfire was used on 66 & 67 vettes.

Those old first gen LS 5.7 Z06's are a steal price/value wise, noone seems to want them since the second gen had the dry sump 427 and a lot more power...but still awesome cars that would run rings around earlier generation Vettes.

My daily driver is a 2012 Vette. It replaced my 01 z06 which my neighbor now owns. It’s up to 320 k miles now.

Hey... how did you like that '01 Z06? I'm looking to get into an '02-'04 Z06 later this year for a daily driver. I've done a ton ov research on them and i really cant find a single flaw, aside from the C5 looks. Hell, even the looks are growing on me...

If your buddy thinks E bodys cost a lot just wait till he starts to fix up the bargin vett he thinks he found then bought. as said the frames rot the suspension parts rot the brakes will be totally shot unless someone shot their nut on all new brakes then realized the frame of the car was rotted in two...don't ask me how I know (no it was not me). then you need to pull the body off the frame and eather rebuild yours or get one that has been re built and hope it was done on a good jig and is strait. the rear suspention has about a million parts... all will be worn out or NG...If you don't know how to repair this stuff its a steep learning curve or you need to find some one who does. Not telling you not to do it but don't ever think its cheeper than an E body. its not

Oh man, i can see that. Been looking at a LOT ov old vettes online for him lately, and i see some scary stuff. Good thing is, he's like me, and willing to modify/improvise a lot ov stuff, and it doesn't need to be pretty. Found myself on Ebay last night, and i about had a stroke when i saw what the rarer parts are going for. I thought 426 hemi stuff was expensive!!! Christ... its just not in the same solar system as sane. God help anyone who actually wants to restore a money vette.

I think like a money E-body, if you dont need bone stock and car show perfect there has to be deals out there on solid cars and cheaper ways to have fun with them.

The Guy that lives behind me has an Early 70's (egg crate gills) sitting under a car port for about 12 years now.....very sad.

Love the 63-67 and the 68-69, as far as handling I guess they were okay, but not really even that good for their day, compared to say an old BMW 2002 the vette was not even in the same leauge back then; It's sad to think today a typical new Accord or Camry could outlap a stock one on a road course. The IRS transverse leaf set up can be modernized with Fiberglass leaf springs and with modern rubber and light wheels would probably help things out a bunch. The frame (assuming you found a good one) is kinda flexy at the limit but I'm sure there are 50+ years of suspension tuning tricks to discover if you ask the right people.

As for a motor, I think I'd go old school SB 327 (3.25 stroke) with 6" rods in a Dart 4.125 bore Block (for 347 inches) but with some brodix heads, EFI and a small Bullet Street solid roller like the Ultradyne .4033 grind for a 7200+ redline, then couple that to a close ratio Tremec with an aluminum flywheel and 3.73-ish gears....then go have a blast.

I'd imagine tires played a massive part in the poor performance figures back then. Corvettes seemed to be born with worse tires than most. The C2's were awful. I wonder how hard it'd be to retrofit say, C4 stuff into an old one. I've seen a couple C2 frames/cars now with "C4 suspension and brakes", and i wonder whats involved...

I don't know anything about the faded yellow color other than it wasn't the most desirable. Don't know rare it is??? Sunfire was a Chrysler name for that pastel, faded yellow wasn't it? Never even heard of Goldwood. I think the big three had colors that were somewhat close in shade and different in name. Your current C2 is stellar BTW...

I'd just buy used a Cobra replica instead. Factory Five or whatever else is out there.

A first gen Mustang coupe or Falcon would be another option as they make a ton of handling upgrades for those and people actually still road race them. 408 Windsor with 351 Cleveland heads and a 5 speed manual is how to do it.

I'd just buy used a Cobra replica instead. Factory Five or whatever else is out there.

A first gen Mustang coupe or Falcon would be another option as they make a ton of handling upgrades for those and people actually still road race them. 408 Windsor with 351 Cleveland heads and a 5 speed manual is how to do it.

Heh... up here, no one is going to daily drive a car without a roof. Personally, i love the 67-70 fastback Mustangs, almost as much as E-bodies... but for the money THOSE are pulling now, you might as well step up to the damn Corvette. They'd jumped recently too. They used to hold about even with the early E-bodies... not any more. Plus, a Vette would be faster.

My daily driver is a 2012 Vette. It replaced my 01 z06 which my neighbor now owns. It’s up to 320 k miles now.

Hey... how did you like that '01 Z06? I'm looking to get into an '02-'04 Z06 later this year for a daily driver. I've done a ton ov research on them and i really cant find a single flaw, aside from the C5 looks. Hell, even the looks are growing on me...

I loved it except for the reason you just stated. Everyone skips the 01 for the 02-04 due to the extra HP and the 01 got the rep as an oil burner though I never saw it.

The car was fast, light, handled great was easy to work on for the most part and parts were not expensive if you go to the online vendors. I loved the fixed roof of the z06. Some don’t.

Oh and getting close to 30 mpg and fairly cheap insurance doesn’t hurt. You can still find garage queens for under 25k and drivers for under 20k.

I say go for it. They are great cars for the price

Oh almost forgot. One pain was the column lock. Some were removed and some bypassed. They were problematic and GM never really fixed it. Just make sure whatever you look at has been removed or bypassed if not plan to do it. Not expensive to do.

My daily driver is a 2012 Vette. It replaced my 01 z06 which my neighbor now owns. It’s up to 320 k miles now.

Hey... how did you like that '01 Z06? I'm looking to get into an '02-'04 Z06 later this year for a daily driver. I've done a ton ov research on them and i really cant find a single flaw, aside from the C5 looks. Hell, even the looks are growing on me...

I loved it except for the reason you just stated. Everyone skips the 01 for the 02-04 due to the extra HP and the 01 got the rep as an oil burner though I never saw it.

The car was fast, light, handled great was easy to work on for the most part and parts were not expensive if you go to the online vendors. I loved the fixed roof of the z06. Some don’t.

Oh and getting close to 30 mpg and fairly cheap insurance doesn’t hurt. You can still find garage queens for under 25k and drivers for under 20k.

I say go for it. They are great cars for the price

Oh almost forgot. One pain was the column lock. Some were removed and some bypassed. They were problematic and GM never really fixed it. Just make sure whatever you look at has been removed or bypassed if not plan to do it. Not expensive to do.

The looks are growing on me. I like the look ov the fastback roof better, but not the idea ov no roof. I also like the openness ov the fastback roof.. looks easier to get stuff in and out (which is important for me too). The FRC/Z06 were apparently a lot stiffer too, not to mention its never gonna leak. The MPG suffered just a tad (about 1mpg) with the hardtop though, top speed as well... though no ones gonna gripe about 'only' being able to go 170... haha. MPG matters to me, but not as much as safety and performance. Z06 it is.

Being a Chevy, parts can be found used, and hearing they're easy to work on is nice too, though i'll likely pay someone. Still cheaper than paying someone to work on something thats a pain in the a$$. I also like that you can jam a LOT ov tire in the wells without modification. Sounds like its all win.

I've seen decent drivers well under 15K US. Seen some nice salvage titles (nothing structural) around 10-11K. Thats a LOT ov speed for the money!

Here is a pic of my 67 I sold a few years back. Hard to get a look at the bird cage with kick panels in, but get under with a flashlight and give it a look. Mine was mint. Entire front end was glassed in but was done professionally so I was ok with it. Must have had a bad crash. Look for rough fiberglass work around cowl and down. Also feel under fender lips for cut fiberglass and for original seams. Check frame well for cover up (poke around if heavy paint or undercoat).These cars handle great with stock suspension and I loved the 4 wheel independent and calipers all around. With upgrades they are super. Prior owner made original motor a solid lifter screamer and it was sweet. Just didn't drive it after I had a child.If building for parking lot racing, I would chose a C3 as lower buy in price. Too bad they have the vacuum headlights (mine were electric). Motors a [censored] to swap out if you don't have toothpick arms.

Here is a pic of my 67 I sold a few years back. Hard to get a look at the bird cage with kick panels in, but get under with a flashlight and give it a look. Mine was mint. Entire front end was glassed in but was done professionally so I was ok with it. Must have had a bad crash. Look for rough fiberglass work around cowl and down. Also feel under fender lips for cut fiberglass and for original seams. Check frame well for cover up (poke around if heavy paint or undercoat).These cars handle great with stock suspension and I loved the 4 wheel independent and calipers all around. With upgrades they are super. Prior owner made original motor a solid lifter screamer and it was sweet. Just didn't drive it after I had a child.If building for parking lot racing, I would chose a C3 as lower buy in price. Too bad they have the vacuum headlights (mine were electric). Motors a [censored] to swap out if you don't have toothpick arms.

Interesting. Its a bit hard for me to picture, as i've never crawled around one, or even looked close. I would never dream ov structural stuff in FG in a Challenger lets say, but these cars are ALL FG, and well... they seem to age decently. Wish i had access to one to crawl over.

There is a very famous 65 out there (red, black bumpers) that is a very successful autocrosser, and he says its all stock or stock derivative suspension under his. He does well, so its gotta be decent. A great starting point anyways. Just wish the C2's weren't so spendy to get into...

Here is a pic of my 67 I sold a few years back. Hard to get a look at the bird cage with kick panels in, but get under with a flashlight and give it a look. Mine was mint. Entire front end was glassed in but was done professionally so I was ok with it. Must have had a bad crash. Look for rough fiberglass work around cowl and down. Also feel under fender lips for cut fiberglass and for original seams. Check frame well for cover up (poke around if heavy paint or undercoat).These cars handle great with stock suspension and I loved the 4 wheel independent and calipers all around. With upgrades they are super. Prior owner made original motor a solid lifter screamer and it was sweet. Just didn't drive it after I had a child.If building for parking lot racing, I would chose a C3 as lower buy in price. Too bad they have the vacuum headlights (mine were electric). Motors a [censored] to swap out if you don't have toothpick arms.

Interesting. Its a bit hard for me to picture, as i've never crawled around one, or even looked close. I would never dream ov structural stuff in FG in a Challenger lets say, but these cars are ALL FG, and well... they seem to age decently. Wish i had access to one to crawl over.

There is a very famous 65 out there (red, black bumpers) that is a very successful autocrosser, and he says its all stock or stock derivative suspension under his. He does well, so its gotta be decent. A great starting point anyways. Just wish the C2's weren't so spendy to get into...

With the stock suspension there is no hint of wheel hop or even strain. It just slides smoothly, grabs and takes off. With short wheel base can get squirrely.Having no rust is awesome. The problem with high HP cars that are run hard is that they crack at the top of the wheel well. Really just cosmetic.You should be able to get a project affordably. I sold mine for 28k in 2013, It needed an exterior cosmetic resto but mechanically everything had been redone and had zero rust. Again, had different front end glued on it, but had been inspected and was done professionally.

Here is a pic of my 67 I sold a few years back. Hard to get a look at the bird cage with kick panels in, but get under with a flashlight and give it a look. Mine was mint. Entire front end was glassed in but was done professionally so I was ok with it. Must have had a bad crash. Look for rough fiberglass work around cowl and down. Also feel under fender lips for cut fiberglass and for original seams. Check frame well for cover up (poke around if heavy paint or undercoat).These cars handle great with stock suspension and I loved the 4 wheel independent and calipers all around. With upgrades they are super. Prior owner made original motor a solid lifter screamer and it was sweet. Just didn't drive it after I had a child.If building for parking lot racing, I would chose a C3 as lower buy in price. Too bad they have the vacuum headlights (mine were electric). Motors a [censored] to swap out if you don't have toothpick arms.

Interesting. Its a bit hard for me to picture, as i've never crawled around one, or even looked close. I would never dream ov structural stuff in FG in a Challenger lets say, but these cars are ALL FG, and well... they seem to age decently. Wish i had access to one to crawl over.

There is a very famous 65 out there (red, black bumpers) that is a very successful autocrosser, and he says its all stock or stock derivative suspension under his. He does well, so its gotta be decent. A great starting point anyways. Just wish the C2's weren't so spendy to get into...

With the stock suspension there is no hint of wheel hop or even strain. It just slides smoothly, grabs and takes off. With short wheel base can get squirrely.Having no rust is awesome. The problem with high HP cars that are run hard is that they crack at the top of the wheel well. Really just cosmetic.You should be able to get a project affordably. I sold mine for 28k in 2013, It needed an exterior cosmetic resto but mechanically everything had been redone and had zero rust. Again, had different front end glued on it, but had been inspected and was done professionally.

Heh... now I'M getting interested... I've always thought ov my end-goal hotrod being a 70 T/A Challenger, or a 71 Cuda... full road race in Big Red style... but i have ALWAYS loved those C2 coupes. Funny how their not that much lighter than an E-body. Where's all that weight?

I think if i was personally in the market to build a road race DD in own ov these, i'd want to buy someone's restoration, and modify it from there. Always easier to build a driving car, and there is no downtime. Plus, you have the fun ov seeing what it can do stock, and then modifying it as you go like you would a brand new car. By the time you got to something serious, you'd know your car pretty well. Runners seem to start at 35K though, and thats rare. Maybe buy a 427 runner and sell off the powertrain and other rare stock items to make back the difference? BIG money in those stock big block parts. I mean, if you're going LS/6-speed/aftermarket stuff anyways...

The only Corvette I was ever around was my buddy's '72 vette.He BADLY wanted a chrome bumper vette of 68'-'72 vintage. He eneded upbuying a '72 350 4 speed..IIRC it was an original "War Bonnet Yellow"colored car, which was actually gold IMO... He wanted a bright yellow vette real bad, because he loved the yellow'57 Chevy from the "Hollywood Knights" movie (PHR project X car)...so I helped him do the bodywork on his vette, before another friend of his painted it bright canary yellow..turned out looking real nice in the end.This was all in the early 90's... about 25 years ago. I remember riding in the vette, the car rattled really bad, all the time. He had T-tops on it, it wasn't so bad when those were removed. The car looked nice with the yellow paint, and all the chrome, but..I was/am a Mopar guy, and reallynever got into the vette thing. To each his/her own..good luck with your friends quest.

Restored Corvettes are everywhere here. All the low hanging fruit ones have been gone thru and the Craigslist projects still left for sale are serious projects that have been in bad wrecks, non matching drivetrains, etc.

Restored Corvettes are everywhere here. All the low hanging fruit ones have been gone thru and the Craigslist projects still left for sale are serious projects that have been in bad wrecks, non matching drivetrains, etc.

I just saw someone on Ebay selling a pair ov used heads for $4000, and a set ov used wheels for $12K. Jesus... whats a full engine/4-speed worth? Maybe i'd just buy a restored 427 car and make 20K back from the purchase by selling all that rare stuff i'm not gonna use. Pure blasphemy!!! Hahahaha.

Wow, this has been an enlightening thread, I am a die hard Mopar guy but I always thought I might like having 2 non Mopar cars, a 65-67 fast back Mustang and a C3 Vette, I rode in a L88 4 speed C3 back in the 80's and while it was rattling and squeaking and finicky...it hauled a$$ and I have wanted one ever since...but this thread has made me realize I would have no freaking idea what I was looking at/for...I probably would have bought somebody's headache. Now if I find one I'll make sure I recruit an expert...cause I still want one

A few things about these cars. With the bodies off they are the same car basically from 63 to 82. A few changes like from drum to disc brakes. So all will have the same rust problems. The big block cars got heaver front coil springs. ALL T tops leaked and rattled so check for water damage. The console vacuum heater ac controls are a pain. The 68 thru 72 had true hide away wipers with a hinged door that worked on vacuum and can be a problem. There's a bypass under the steering wheel to open them and the headlights manually as well as a knob to leave the wipers up for when it snows. Also good way to check for vacuum leaks. 68 to 72 also had a removable rear window which is great with the tops off in hot weather. Avoid 68 more problems than others and only one with double door button. So check frame,brakes,windshield pillar,trailing arms @ bushings,Half shafts,struts (often bent due to adjusters being frozen and alignment shop bending then to set toe) heater/ac to make sure it opens the proper vent,defroster,heater. Head lights,Electrical,paint,fiberglass repairs.

Long story short easy to buy one that has nice paint but needs $10,000 mechanical work or one that has mechanical work done but needs $10,000 paint job.

Were the suspensions different from model to model? Ie: you mention BB got bigger coils, anything else? Just big blocks? Any point in looking for a particular model if you want to road race? etc. Are the C2/C3's the same to the point where you could upgrade a 63 suspension/brakes with say, 82 stuff?

Vacuum huh? Ugh. I think if i had one, i'd be retrofitting and modifying a lot ov things...

Did ANY ov the 68-72 C3's come with a full roof? I dont think i've ever seen anything except T-tops or rags.

And maybe a stupid question, but how do these things fare in rollovers? That birdcage makes even my E-body roof look stout. How about other non-obvious every day things, like, can you sit on the fenders? on the doorsills, like say in a steel car? I have no idea about this stuff...

Same suspensions just different coil springs on big blocks for the added weight. There were a few zo6 racing suspensions but a factory car with it is high $. Yes you can upgrade a 63 to disc brakes otherwise the suspension parts are the same.65 to 82 brakes are the same. The half shafts attachments on the diff are different on the 81,82 but it's not a performance improvement. No full roofs Yes the fenders and door sills are strong enough to sit on.In a roll over the fiberglass is usually destroyed but the frame holds up well.